Arthroscopy

Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic surgery) is a minimally invasivesurgical procedurein which a physical examinationof the interior of a jointis performed using an arthroscope, a type of endoscopethat is inserted into the joint through a small incision.

The advantage over traditional knee endoscopiesis that only small incisions need to be made, and the joint does not have to be opened up fully. This reduces the recoverytime of the patient and may increase the rate of surgical success due to less trauma to the connective tissue. It is especially useful for professional athletes, who frequently injure knee joints and require fast healing time.

The instruments used are also smaller than traditional instruments. Surgeons view the joint area on a video monitor, and can diagnose and repair broken joint tissue, such as ligamentsand menisci).

See also

• Laparoscopic surgery

External links

• Pictures Knee Arthroscopy

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthroscopy Wikipedia article Arthroscopy.